Control of Composition/Writing: Poetry Practice Test

Poem excerpt:

We take the long way home to avoid the hospital,

past the river where reeds comb the current.

You talk about groceries, weather, a new lamp.

I answer carefully, like carrying soup.

At the bridge, you stop.

Your hand finds mine, and neither of us says why.

Which choice best describes how the poet controls the poem’s emotional restraint?

A) By explaining the speaker’s feelings directly in every line

B) By building tension through ordinary dialogue and delaying the implied topic until the silent gesture in “Your hand finds mine”

C) By using ornate diction to heighten melodrama

D) By shifting abruptly into a different setting midway to confuse the reader

Poem excerpt:

I stand in line for the roller coaster,

listening to strangers practice bravery.

The safety video smiles too much.

When my turn comes, the harness clicks shut

like a promise made without reading.

As the car climbs, my stomach writes its own prayer.

Which compositional choice best demonstrates control of tone through diction?

A) The poet’s casual, modern diction creates a purely comic tone with no tension

B) The poet’s uneasy comparisons (“smiles too much,” “promise…without reading”) build apprehension beneath the public fun

C) The poet’s formal, archaic diction makes the amusement park feel medieval

D) The poet avoids any figurative language, making the ride emotionally flat